India’s average car-buying budget saw a 30% increase last year. It appears Gujarat is taking the lead in the number of car consumers. Around 3.73 lakh new cars were sold last year, an increase of 42% from 2021. And now, a national daily has reported that every second person in Gujarat owns a registered vehicle.
Pointing to data in the last 10 years, the report added that while Gujarat’s vehicle population grew by 122%, the state’s population has increased by 14%. The demand for personal vehicles has been buoyed by the need for quick commuting time coupled with greater spending power. Lack of strong public transport and limited frequency of buses in rural areas have contributed to the demand. The state manufactured as many as 1.69 crore new vehicles in the last decade, the report said.
In Ahmedabad, against 1.2 lakh births registered each year, approximately 2.47 lakh vehicles have now been added to the roads, it claimed.
Amit Khatri, a traffic expert, was quoted as saying, “Gujarat is among the richest and most industrialised states in India. Some of the big corporations operate out of the rural areas and the staff use their vehicles to reach the factories.”
A member of the Ahmedabad Traffic Consultative Committee (ATCC) said that BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) and metros weren’t designed to meet people’s requirements in cities such as Vadodara, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, and Surat. Lack of connectivity is a deterrent for people who want to access public transport. Most Gujaratis, the report said, preferred buying two-wheelers for their children after they clear their board exams.
